Import and export of goods in 2024 officially sets a new record

Import and export of goods in 2024 with a high trade surplus is a bright spot in the economic picture, which affirms the quality of trade work.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh - Economic expert had an interview with a reporter from the Industry and Trade Newspaper about this issue.

How do you evaluate the picture of import and export of goods in 2024?

According to the report of the General Department of Customs, as of the first half of December 2024, the total import-export value reached 747.13 billion USD, an increase of 14.7% (equivalent to an increase of 95.98 billion USD) compared to the same period in 2023. Thus, although 2024 has not ended, import-export activities have officially set a new record (the previous record reached more than 730 billion USD in 2022). With the above results and recent growth rate, the General Department of Customs estimates the scale of import-export turnover in 2024 to reach about 782 billion USD.

Import and export in 2024 will surpass the target. (Photo: MH)

This result was achieved because from the very beginning of 2024, import-export activities in all industries and fields of Vietnam have improved. Instead of being late, businesses have found orders to carry out import-export activities from the beginning of the year.

Notably, businesses have stepped up investment in changing technology as well as meeting market demands, thereby promoting the signing of orders, which has contributed to accelerating import-export activities in the entire national economy.

In 2024, import-export turnover will reach approximately 800 billion USD, exceeding the target set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade . And in the export picture, the domestic economic sector continues to grow higher than the FDI sector and the proportion of export turnover of the domestic sector in the total export turnover of the whole country is higher than the same period last year.

Although the proportion of domestic export turnover in the total export turnover of the country has not recorded much increase, from 25-26% to about 27-28%, this is also something to be appreciated. Because, in the export of high-value technology products, FDI enterprises usually have better export capacity than Vietnamese enterprises, and the value of exported processed and manufactured industrial products is also higher.

Along with that, the export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products has grown strongly, exceeding the level set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development . Many products have penetrated into large and official markets through official channels, meeting the requirements of long-term export stability of the economy.

In the general export picture, agriculture, forestry and fishery is also a bright spot with a revenue of about 62 billion USD, exceeding the target set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. What is your comment on this?

In fact, Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports have great potential because Vietnam is a tropical agricultural country, with many products that are unique and not available in other countries. However, for a long time, the implementation of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports has not been systematic, and production activities have not been standardized, so our agricultural, forestry and fishery exports have not been as expected.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh

However, in recent years, learning from the reality that exporting through unofficial and small-scale channels has many risks, ministries, departments, and businesses have also paid more attention to official import-export activities with agricultural, forestry, and fishery products.

Many major import markets such as the United States, the EU, and China have allowed many Vietnamese agricultural, forestry, and fishery products to be officially exported to their markets under quality recognition as well as meeting requirements on product grades, pesticides, antibiotic residues, etc.

It can be affirmed that the export activities of agricultural products, vegetables, flowers and fruits have made steady progress in recent times, especially in 2024, thereby contributing to the strong growth of agricultural, forestry and fishery exports and achieving spectacular results.

Last year, we talked a lot about the textile industry when it lost orders to Bangladesh. However, the ability of textile and garment enterprises to recover and regain orders is also very fast when in 2024, textile and garment export turnover is estimated to reach 44 billion USD, an increase of 11.26% compared to 2023. What is your comment on this?

For textile products, this is a lesson and also a determination to innovate and adapt to specific conditions. In 2023, we will face the biggest difficulty in the textile sector, which is that our businesses lack export orders to developed markets because Bangladesh is a developing country and is given priority by developed countries in greening and meeting quality requirements.

Given that lesson, since the end of 2023, when we have become aware of the problem, many textile and garment enterprises have greened their production activities, innovated processes, imported means and tools to measure and verify carbon consumption levels, thereby meeting the greening requirements set by developed markets.

In 2023 and 2024, the textile and garment sector spent around 200 million USD to implement criteria to meet market requirements on ensuring carbon credits, greening production and business activities as well as consuming textile and garment products.

Since then, we have had orders to export. Obviously, this is a very valuable lesson. That is, we must immediately grasp the market's requirements and quickly change ourselves to adapt to the market's demands that are increasingly oriented towards environmental protection, ensuring green consumption as well as greening activities in the general conditions that the whole world is aiming for.

Vietnamese enterprises have adapted very quickly and comprehensively to meet the market's requirements. This is not only a lesson for the textile industry but also a common lesson for all economic activities. When we want to join the common playground of the international community, we must improve ourselves and meet the highest requirements set by the market. Only then can we avoid the lack of export contracts in the textile industry in recent years.

This year is the 9th year that Vietnam has recorded a trade surplus. How do you evaluate this trade surplus figure for the Vietnamese economy?

Exporting and importing goods is an inevitable part of production and business activities. Therefore, if we do not take the initiative in sourcing raw materials and do not have a plan to increase the localization of products, our exports will often become export on behalf of others.

How to increase the value of Vietnamese products, how to localize raw materials, technology, and equipment to meet the requirements of production and export, then Vietnam's production and export activities will bring about practical efficiency.

The decrease in imports in recent years also shows the trend that Vietnamese enterprises are actively creating more added value, applying more raw materials, energy as well as conditions related to domestic raw materials for production, business and export activities. From there, the trade balance is implemented in a relatively sustainable manner.

With 9 consecutive years of trade surplus, on this basis, we hope that domestic enterprises and industries will continue to promote the search for raw materials, increase the localization rate, thereby increasing the trade surplus and creating a sustainable source of revenue for the national economy.

Actually, the general surplus is important, fortunately in recent years, the service export deficit has decreased, this is a relatively good thing, clearly Vietnam is a country with a very fast growth in service balance, Vietnam's service export activities are growing strongly. We hope that in the near future, Vietnam will be a country exporting high-end services to the international market.

Thank you!

Source: https://congthuong.vn/xuat-nhap-khau-hang-hoa-2024-chinh-thuc-xac-lap-ky-luc-moi-365440.html